Would you like to have ABS and Airbags

This is a discussion on Would you like to have ABS and Airbags within The Indian Car Scene, part of the BHP India category; Every cars needs both, ABS & Airbags... atleast the driver side should have an airbag. Both are standard on all ...

I somehow missed this thread. Majority of tbhpians want ABS and airbags. Sadly tbhp's strength doesnt represent the car buying population in India. So we will still have to wait till its made mandatory or a standard feature.

Apart from that, its the cost factor that puts most people off. The market hasnt matured to that level where majority buyers start paying extra for safety.

I am also surprised why lots of people havent said its not useful. I feel ABS doesnt help on congested city roads which is regular condition we all drive on most days. But its a feature that you wont need unless you get into that suitation. For example panic breaking on the highway. So its always good to be there. You wont know when you will need it.

Manufacturers should take the advantage of economies of scale bring down the cost. Our company is doing many projects with car safety device manufacturers (sorry, cant disclose names) trying to assess the Indian market potential for devices like EBD, ABS, ESP etc.

I need both Airbag+ABS and along with that I need ESP. I used to have that in my car during my previous life, I really miss that, it came handy at least 2 times, saving me tailspin on oncoming traffic at least once and going off the road. I guess its not that expensive to add to ABS controller (assuming 4 channel controller).

As far as ABS I guess I like to have additional curtain and side airbags, man I got only one life.

yes two both. And not two airbags - six. Having ESP will be a good thing too. I will gladly pay more for these things. Call me stupid but my life is more important than saving money.

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but I thought ESP was same as TC? If yes, then do we really need TC in our 100HP or so front wheel drives? Even my FWD honda prelude with 160horses had no TC and I barelfy felt the need for it.

I dont think any one would opt for a car without air bags or ABS ,but on the condition that they become more affordable.Since its coming at a premium now there would be a lot of us who prefer cars with air bags and ABS but have bought otherwise.
As in my case there was no option for a verna with them when i bought mine.Its available now and if my purchase was now i would have gone for it.
In my opinion i would suggest that for all cars above 5-6 lakhs both these options should be made mandatory.
ram

I don't think any compromise on safety devices should be there. I am sure if more people opt for it, the extra money required for this will come down. Probably govt. will play a role but I don't see that happening in near future.

My Aveo (booked) is equipped with these and which is way it won the decision over Verna.

I think it should be the other way around. If the price is brought down, more buyers will opt for it and thereby helping the company to buy or manufacture the kits in bulk and break even.

Wish this to be true !!

However, why would any company bring down the price hoping that people will buy which will then lower the costs???

At present companies understand that Indian consumer do not value safety equipments and instead prefer a lower price tag and which is what they are serving. Probably what they can atleast do is to make ABS optional in all the variants.

PS: Also I don't really agree to the point of view that ABS is not of much use in the city conditions. In Delhi you do speed up at certain stretches upto 60-70 KMPH and ABS will definitely help in sudden breaking? After all, it has been proved time and again that ABS not only helps in preventing locking of wheels but also reduces the breaking distance.
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I think ABS n Airbags are really important and I would definitely want both on my next car. But I've read a lot about the airbags in cars made locally in India failing to deploy - There had been a couple of articles about Honda Cities meeting with fatal accidents (at different times) and airbags failing to deploy in both cases. Kinda Scary that you can't rely on these safety factors that cost a heap of money.

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but I thought ESP was same as TC? If yes, then do we really need TC in our 100HP or so front wheel drives? Even my FWD honda prelude with 160horses had no TC and I barelfy felt the need for it.

If ESP is different from TC, then could someone please explain?

I guess you google it, ESP or ESC- electronic stability control. I also forgot about brake assist, thats also a saver lots of time, greatly reduces stopping distance during panic stops. What happens in brake assist - ABS unit puts maximum braking force if it senses panic stop.

I was reading somewhere it cost just around $200 to add all this on top of ABS. I think ESC is going to be mandatory feature in Europe/US around 2010.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deepakvrao

This life is a downgrade then?

There are other things besides life in fast lane, anyway now its half the pay and pay two times for same car.